FLINT, MI – A former Rutgers football player with dreams of playing in the NFL will now spend the next six to 30 years in prison after getting sentenced on a 2017 revenge killing.

Lester Gene Liston Jr., 24, was originally charged with first-degree murder, which is a life offense. A plea deal with the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office that dropped the charge to second-degree murder could mean he gets a second chance, however.

Liston, who was a standout football player at Grand Blanc and went on to play at Rutgers and Northern Michigan, pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Larry James Dunn on July 30, 2017 in Flint.

Dunn’s sister addressed Liston in court on Friday, Feb. 15.

“I just want Lester Liston to pull his life together, help someone else and show them a better way than what he’s accepted,” said Darmita Dumas. “My family feels that he should get what is coming to him. Spending the rest of his life being away from home is not it. If he can learn from this and teach someone else to not go down the same road – I’m for it.”

Genesee Circuit Judge David Newblatt said the only reason he signed off on the plea was because prosecutors, police and the victim’s family agreed to the deal.

“The agreement in this case is for a sentence that is much lower than we normally sentence in a case like this,” Newblatt said. “The court does have reservations about it.”

Newblatt sentenced Liston to six to 30 years on the second-degree murder charge, two years on a felony firearm charge with credit for 536 days in jail and 16 to 24 months on the careless use of a firearm causing injury.

“Everybody would say it’s a generous plea,” Genesee County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Beer told the court while addressing Liston. “The plea agreement was made in the interest of the victim’s family. You make this worth it.”

Dunn, 44, was found at 11:37 p.m. at the corner of Roselawn and Cloverlawn suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

“He was a great football player and was looking to go to the NFL. He is a very decent person and sometimes decent people make mistakes,” said Liston’s Attorney Michael Ewing. “He just overreacted for his friend.”

Ewing previously said Dunn didn’t have anything to do with the killing of Liston’s friend.

Liston will cooperate with investigators as part of the plea or the deal could be revoked.

The former standout football player at Grand Blanc High School graduated in 2012. He attended Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, before accepting a scholarship at Rutgers.

He was dismissed from the team in 2015, according to NJ.com. Liston told MLive-The Flint Journal that he left Rutgers and transferred to Division II Northern Michigan University to be closer to his newborn son.

Liston kept eye contact with the victim’s family members on Friday while they addressed him in court.

“I’m very sorry for what my actions caused,” he told the court. “I thank you for forgiving me. We all make bad decisions. This one cost me a lot.”